smelling salts
6
4.1
- noun
- /ˈsmɛlɪŋ sɔlts/
:
sales aromáticas
- After fainting at the ceremony, he was quickly revived with smelling salts.
- revived with smelling salts
- smelling salts to wake
- Give him the smelling salts
It's called the world's strongest smelling salts.
- It's called the world's strongest smelling salts.
Examples
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Better have a large bottle of smelling salts around.
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Someone fetch me my smelling salts.
Blog text (29) -
You better bring smelling salts back with you.
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You have those smelling salts?
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Give him the smelling salts.
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Where are my smelling salts?
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You should grab some smelling salts and sit down.
Blog text (14) -
Get the smelling salts out and keep them close by.
Blog text (17) -
Hoisting her upright, he raised the smelling salts to her nose.
Fiction book (2001) -
Phyllis and Gwen revived her with smelling salts.
Fiction book (1994)
Synonyms
A small bottle with a strong smell that helps wake someone who has fainted
A strong smelling liquid used to wake someone who feels faint
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound clearly combines 'smelling' (having a strong odor) with 'salt' (a chemical substance), so a B1 learner would likely infer it refers to a pungent chemical or scented salt. However, the conventionalized medical use — an ammonia-based inhalant used to revive someone who has fainted — is not predictable from the constituents alone, making the expression only partially transparent.
Etymology
The noun smelling salts comes from the old practice of holding a small bottle of very strong-smelling salts under a fainting person's nose. The sharp smell made them breathe and wake up, so smelling salts are used 'to revive' someone who has fainted.